Do you have a best friend at work? It sounds a bit of an icky question, right?
I was reminded of this question in Gallup’s engagement survey when an executive told me there were very few, if any, colleagues they’d want to have over for dinner.
It’s a bit sad, but I get it. I’ve known leaders – and on occasion been one myself – in financially high-performing teams where every day at work or every interaction with certain individuals brings you one step closer to resignation.
Performance can hang together in the short-term, but becomes very fragile in the medium- to long-run. Theres a ceiling on what’s possible.
There’s the unrelenting emotional toll; unwanted frictions eating up your management time and huge gaps in leadership succession planning.
To fix this, it’s best to start with ‘who’.
Jim Collins calls it ‘getting the right people on the bus’ because, without them, success is short-lived and high-performers who undermine team cohesion are liabilities.
Do you have a best friend at work – well, at least one that you’d want to have around for dinner?
